Let's wait to see if it's a start of intoxication and a new crazy adventure for the France team, but the band of Didier Deschamps had the merit of not rushing into the ravine, as in 2021 at the Euro, after his success against Poland (3-1), Sunday, in the round of 16.
And will play, against England - Senegal's faller (3-0) - its third consecutive quarter-final of the World Cup after 2014 and 2018.
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A first in the history of the selection.
But let's not fall into overconfidence as the Blues have not largely dominated their subject on the side of the al-Thumama stadium, sometimes giving in to panic, clumsy gestures and imperfect control.
Let's not hide our pleasure either and savor the chance to have a genius like Kylian Mbappé.
With nine goals in eleven World Cup matches, he borders on insolence and defies history.
Read alsoThe notes of the Blues against Poland: the genius of Mbappé, the record of Giroud
The heckled Blues
Without being flamboyant, but with seriousness and a certain talent, like the new record holder of goals in selection, Olivier Giroud, author of the opener of the score (1-0, 44th), or Kylian Mbappé, perfect for double the bet (2-0, 74th) and end the suspense (3-0, 90th +1), for its 4th and 5th achievement in Qatar (top scorer in the World Cup), the French team was able to count on its individualities .
Not insignificant if in the same evening Giroud (52 goals) and Mbappé (32 goals) "overtake" Thierry Henry (51) and Zinédine Zidane (31) in the scorer rankings by one unit.
Symbol, when you hold us… On the collective side, it was less brilliant, less well oiled and above all less attractive than at the start of the tournament.
“We had too many ups and downs in the first half,”
concedes Hugo Lloris, goalkeeper of the temple with 142 selections, joint record holder with Lilian Thuram and who, despite a first stoppage, could not stop Lewandowski's penalty (3-1, 90th + 8) at the end of the game.
“It was not easy, Poland was well organized to upset us, but we always have this ability to find a lot of binder,
adds Didier Deschamps, relieved in the Qatari night.
And after that, it's Kylian, with the ability he has to solve many problems.
Good for us
.
»
An ace named Mbappé
When you have the best player in this World Cup in your ranks, it makes your life easier.
Author of an XXL performance, Kylian Mbappé, 23, has once again proven that he is unplayable.
The whole world fears him.
The pressure around him is crazy.
And he loves it.
With five goals in Qatar, the standards displayed are gargantuan.
Even at the height of a match that he had not flown over and after a breather from Deschamps, the "French genius" made his talent speak.
With him, all dreams are allowed.
"It's his competition",
agrees "DD", in lack of superlative for an
"outstanding player".
Savior Giroud
As the coach acknowledges, the Blues struggled to make life easy in the desert of al-Thumama with a relatively calm atmosphere for a round of 16.
In the worst of times for his people, after a triple Polish opportunity (38th), Olivier Giroud got his team out of the rut, also repelling the ghosts of Switzerland and the Euro who were knocking on the door.
And allowed Deschamps to blow a big blow after a disappointing first act.
With this goal, his 52nd in selection, the 36-year-old Milanese (117 caps) left a certain Thierry Henry in the rearview mirror to become the one and only top scorer in the history of the Blues.
We do not know where all this will lead us, but beautiful stories remain to be written.
The heroes of 2018 have not (all) aged.
“Still far from the goal I have set for myself”
We had to be patient before we could hear Kylian Mbappé's first words in Doha.
Mute throughout the first round, including after being voted man of the match against Australia (4-1) and Denmark (2-1) - an absence which earned a reprimand then a fine to the French Federation -, the star of the Blues did not derogate from this obligation this Sunday.
While justifying his decision and assuming his responsibilities with elegance:
“It was nothing personal, I had nothing against the journalists, I only needed to concentrate on my competition, without wasting energy on other thing.
I learned that the FFF was going to have a fine (10,200 euros), I undertake to pay it personally.
To read also Awesome Mbappé, dashing grandpas, gloomy atmosphere … The favorites / claw of our special correspondents after France-Poland
This clarification made, Kylian Mbappé then returned to the performance of the day of the Blues, more than his own – two goals and an assist – as if to materialize his attachment to the collective.
“We are very happy to go to the quarter-finals, it was not an easy match against a difficult team.
We scored goals at key moments.
We ended up winning and we are very happy to continue the adventure.
As for the rest, the PSG player does not lack ambition:
“The World Cup is the competition of my dreams, I built my season on this meeting.
But we are still far from the objective that we have set and that I have set myself.
We will do everything to get there.”
Before specifying, always collectively:
“My sole objective is to win the World Cup, not the Ballon d'Or or the title of top scorer.
I am here to win and to guide the France team.